


You Got Me Used To Loving You

by truebluemoon



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bickering, F/F, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Relationship Problems
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 11:08:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19789630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truebluemoon/pseuds/truebluemoon
Summary: When Catra entered into a relationship with her sworn enemy, she didn’t expect to get pulled in so deep.





	You Got Me Used To Loving You

They were fighting over some First Ones artifact when it happened.

It wasn’t fate when it happened. It wasn’t destiny knocking at their door. Catra and Adora were never meant to be the way the stars circled the sky just so. They were a random set of circumstances coming to fruition, a throw of the dice so to speak. Then again, Adora took their set of dice away with her to Bright Moon, so there was that.

Adora took a lot of things with her. Catra’s vulnerability. Catra’s weakness. Catra’s friendship. Yeah, those.

Catra blocked a hit gracelessly. Friendship wouldn’t stop either of them from pummeling into eachother, especially from Adora to Catra. She never had the same ease Adora had in combat. “You missed your mark. Getting a little rusty there?”

“Are you sure you just didn’t train harder?” Adora attempted another hit, putting her hips into it. She always had the firmest stances, the best balance. Catra wasn’t sure where she got her steadiness from. That was what it meant to be an orphan raised in the Fright Zone: no one was sure where anyone got anything. Nothing was given without a fight, and inheritance didn’t mean a thing. It was the Fright Zone.

“I never trained the way you did,” Catra reminded her, throwing herself into a kick that her opponent took without much damage.

“And still do,” Adora corrected, reaching to grab Catra by the leg. Probably to flip her. She had the same handful of moves in her repertoire.

Catra quickly dodged her hands, tossing herself to Adora’s left side to elbow her hard in the ribs. Adora hissed in pain. She could count on her pointy elbows to get the job done. Catra was all angles, her body bony from years of malnutrition. They both knew who they had to thank for _that_.

Suddenly, Adora did something unexpected. She threw her entire body forward, tackling Catra to the ground. Next thing Catra knew, Adora was hovering over her, panting. Catra was looking up at her, panting. There was a lot of panting to go around. When she tried to lift herself further away from Catra, she set down a shaking arm and pushed. She must have put weight in the wrong place because then, _then_ , my fucking friend, she fell forward.

Their lips met.

That happened.

It wasn’t fate, but it kind of felt like it.

Next time they met, Catra was launching an invasion of some Princess’s territory. The flowery one. Catra didn’t know or care who.

This was the second time they were attempting to invade. The first time, though, Catra wasn’t a Force Captain. The first time, though, She-ra was still in her infancy. Adora’s She-ra, anyways. Whatever that meant. Catra still wasn’t sure she understood, but she understood this:

It was anyone’s game.

She set out one section of the troops to draw them out. It was a smaller force, more like skirmishers than actual combatants. Hopefully, they would tire out the Princess’s soldiers and slink away. Or maybe they’d die like pests. It was of no matter to Catra. She barely knew them.

Still, they were counting on her.

She frowned.

No one could afford another failure. Hordark’s eyes were on her progress. If she failed… Well, Shadow Weaver was already being pushed out, and she wasn’t as expendable as Catra.

Besides, people could get hurt, or die. _They’re stupid people anyways to be relying on me_ , she thought. Better to let them get hurt because of their own stupidity. Right? They were stupid, like Catra had been stupid. Catra learned her lesson quick. Let them learn theirs.

But regardless, the bigger force would come out of hiding from the trees and smash the weary enemy right where it hurts. Then, victory would be close at hand. She’d earn her place as Force Captain, and Shadow Weaver would be the guest of honor at Catra’s victory party. Slowly, but surely, she’d replace the bitter old enchantress, and Catra would finally be on top.

She looked down at her troops from the top of the hill. Her ear twitched.

“Hey, Adora,” Catra smirked, not even needing to turn to see it’s her. But she did anyways. “Ready to watch the show?”

“This stops here,” Adora said, but it wasn’t _Adora_ -Adora, it was She-ra-Adora.

“What stops? Your crush on me?” But she could still push her buttons like Adora.

“I told you, I fell,” Adora said.

“Of course because who would ever want to kiss Catra,” Catra shot back.

She let out a noise of frustration. “A lot of people would!”

“They don’t exactly send postcards, not that you do either,” Catra said. “And you’re the one with the crush.”

“If you would just give people a chance,” Adora began. “maybe people _would_ crush on you.”

“Good thing I don’t,” Catra retorted, “or they’d let my hopes up just like you.”

They were bickering like children. But it was so tempting to just give in. She didn’t have to think hard about the two of them when they argued. Words were a weapon, but they were also a shield. And the ship carting her off to Beast Island for fraternizing with the enemy. And the harbor. Maybe the ocean too. She had no idea where that metaphor was going.

What’s important is Adora dragged her down the hill, away from prying eyes. “I really did a number on you, huh?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. If it’s a number, it’s zero,” Catra retorted, leaning in close. She could smell her sweat. It was pungent but sweet, like getting punched in the face with a fruit. Which made no sense since the fruit would just collapse in on itself. Maybe a spikeberry, those could get sharp at the points.

“Sure, let’s pretend that makes any sense,” Adora replied, leaning in too.

“Fine,” Catra ground out.

They leaned in closer.

“Fine.”

And closer.

And they kissed. Again.

The Horde troops won, by the way. Not that Catra doubted they would.

When they retook Plumeria from the Horde, it was with gusto. They pulled out all the stops: sea magic, teleportation, She-ra, She-ra’s weird thing called a “horse.” But what shocked Catra the most was how low Adora was willing to go.

The fighting was occurring down below. They had the perfect vantage point up here. Catra thought she could even hear the yells and shouts of battle, the buzz of laser guns shooting from their chambers, the clangs of steel against steel, tanks rolling onto and over combatants and crunching the bones into pieces. She wondered idly how many would be dying that day for her. Or for their precious She-ra.

“We need to talk,” She-ra Adora announced, like they were about to find out who stole the cookie from the cookie jar or some infantile shit. Slow and careful, like Catra was a freaking idiot. Or seven again.

“No, we need boundaries,” Catra snarled out, crossing her arms to form an X. A mere gesture to ward her off.

“Which we can form by talking,” Adora countered, taking a step towards her.

“Or you can stay the hell away and keep your hands to yourself,” Catra said, taking a step back. “This is the worst time you could have- But no, you know that, don’t you?”

“Catra,” Adora said.

“You’re doing this on purpose,” Catra realized, jabbing a finger in her direction. “To throw me off.”

And somehow that angered her, even though it made her the biggest hypocrite this side of Etheria. Adora had the gall to manipulate her, as if it all wasn’t painful enough losing her to begin with.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Adora took a step towards her. And another. And another.

Catra mirrored her movements. “Oh? What else don’t I know? Care to enlighten me?!”

Catra’s nose was almost close enough to touch the girl’s lips. “Yeah, I care! I care about you!”

Then, it happened. The kissing.

So much for boundaries.

“I-I uh- I saw you kissing Sh-She-ra,” Kyle said. “At the battle.”

Catra took a moment to consider the situation. Here she had a witness to her crime. If he wanted, he could tattle straight to Hordak. If he managed to win an audience. So maybe he wouldn’t push his luck. Then again, maybe he would, if Shadow Weaver supported his story. But the thing was, she had an ace up her sleeve. She knew exactly what to say.

“You don’t know what you thought you saw,” Catra told him, “It was a Horde taunt.”

“But-” _Just let it go_. _It was only one time- that you saw anyways._ Still, the look in his eyes was uncertain. Kyle was as spineless as a jellyfish.

“But?” Catra towered over him, even though they were the same height.

He cowered. “A Horde taunt… Could you give me a demonstration? S-so I could learn?”

“Not in your dreams, pipsqueak,” Catra stalked off, leaving him shaking in his boots. Metaphorical boots, since she was half-sure he’d drown in the things.

 _Rogelio can go show him, for all I care_. _They’re the ones fucking, anyways._

Adora showed up to their next fight with flowers and chocolates in hand.

If fate was a thing, it sure had a sick sense of humor.

Catra threw a punch, the scrappy kind best suited for bar brawls. Adora dodged easily. Then, it was Catra’s turn to dodge Adora’s elbow. She dug her heels into the ground as the fight hit a lull. If Adora wasn’t going to be putting in the effort, what was the point?

“At least let me give them to you first,” Adora said.

“What are you doing?” Catra stopped and stood. She stretched her arms outward. Not the kind one does when they’re asking for a hug, but the kind one does when they’re clueless.

Adora shoved the flowers and chocolates into Catra’s chest. “Correction: What are _we_ doing?”

“Being incredibly cheesy, apparently,” Catra muttered, catching them in her arms.

“It’s what people do when they date outside a war zone,” Adora said. “I did research.”

“Of course you did,” She said.

“I don’t want to get this wrong,” Adora admitted sheepishly.

 _But when do you ever get anything wrong?_ “Of course you don’t.”

Catra tossed them aside and jut out her hip as she shifted her weight. “Can we fight now?”

Adora punched her fist into the palm of her hand. “Yeah.”

They fought. Adora won. Big cheers for Team Bright Moon.

The first time they had sex was clumsy and quick because their _thing_ \- whatever it was - was top secret. They only managed to steal away mere minutes in the forest alone. Any longer and their respective factions would grow suspicious.

Catra was tugging at Adora’s clothes, clinging to her the whole time like she was the only lifeline at sea. And Adora let her, since she was a softy at heart. It kind of made Catra sick. But was it sick with worry or just plain sick? She couldn’t hear herself think over the sound of her beating heart, or the sound of their breaths intermingling.

When Adora slipped a finger inside her, Catra thought she’d cry. She didn’t. She farted though, which made Adora laugh and finger her harder. Catra contorted into all sorts of shapes, the curve of her back flipping back and forth. “You laugh _now-_ b-but wait till you smell it,” Catra said in between deep breaths.

“Sorry to break it to you, babe,” Adora whispered in her ear. “But I’ve smelled worse.”

“”Babe?”” Catra moaned, for more than one reason. “Seriously?”

““Honey” sounds too sweet,” Adora explained, sliding in a friend for her index finger, “and “Dear”’s too domestic.”

Catra bucked her hips against her hand. “If you- really- want-” She forced herself to _breathe_. “A pet name- try- “sexy.””

“Maybe when hell freezes over,” but Catra didn’t have a smart-alec comment for that because her climax came fast and _hard_. It was Etheria-shattering, her hips shaking from the release of tension, her shoulders rolling along with the rest of her.

And Adora stood, leaving Catra shivering half-naked in the dirt. She licked at her wet fingers. “You don’t taste half-bad.”

“Wow, _thanks_ ,” Catra growled out.

Adora looked back at her, the line of her neck to her shoulders making a near-perfect V. “You smell good too.” Then, a pause. “You even look good after.”

“Were you thinking you’d have to abandon me in the woods I’d be so disgusting?” Catra shot back.

“No,” Adora said honestly. “But I thought I’d want to.”

Catra pulled on her pants while she let that sink in. And Adora called _her_ mean.

But then Adora continued. “Because you’d push me away after you got what you wanted.”

To that, Catra didn’t say nothing at all.

Princess Prom was boring, except for Adora overreacting to _everything_.

Catra led the dance, sneaking glances at Adora’s perfect ass. “This giving you ideas?”

“I don’t know what you’re planning, but it’s not going to work.” Adora was focused on work. How droll. She thought of about three different wisecracks she could make in response.

She settled for dipping Adora in her arms, her hand gripping her waist. “Then again, maybe it already has.”

Catra started avoiding missions after the kidnapping fiasco that started after Princess Prom.

When she gave the sword to Adora, she didn’t do it out of the goodness of her heart. She did it because if Adora stayed any longer the Horde would try to lure her to stay. _And she just might_. The girl already defected once. She could probably be convinced to do it again. And there Catra’s position would go. No more Force Captain perks, no more Shadow Weaver seething in her britches, no more sneaking around hoping they wouldn’t get caught.

There was also the fact she kidnapped Adora’s goody-two-shoes friends. But those Johnny-Come-Lately’s had their own problems, Catra only added to them. The Rebellion could handle a spoiled brat and her assistant newly returned from their stay at the Fright Zone. Adora was another matter entirely.

When there was a mission, she shoveled the work onto Scorpia’s semi-capable shoulders. The woman could take a heavy load, and she didn’t complain.

That is, until that Friday.

“The thing is, I really need you cut it out, wildcat,” Scorpia pat Catra’s should with her claw. “I already have enough on my plate without doing three people’s worth of work. You get it, right?”

“Uh, su- Wait-“ She held up three fingers, shaking off Scorpia’s claw. “Three people’s worth?”

“Kyle got sick from stress,” Scorpia pointed out.

“I’m sure that’s what he claimed,” Catra said dryly. “What? Was Rogelio busy?”

“Rogelio caught what Kyle has,” Scorpia said, missing the point. “I understand everything’s tough- what with you juggling your relationship with Adora with your dedication to the Horde but-“

Okay, that was a surprise.

“You knew?!” Catra managed to say.

“Oh, yeah, _everyone_ knew,” Scorpia said. “We just thought you were going somewhere with it. Personally, I’m not really one for the whole honeypot kind of operation. Too messy and too easy for someone to catch feelings, but different strokes for different folks is what I always say.”

But Catra was still stuck on the _everyone knew_.

Entrapta, their newest convert, was probably their only silver lining. She was a genius. She was also an absolute idiot, but in the way that smart people could be idiots. So still pretty damn smart. Smarter than Catra, anyways.

So when she suggested they track some First Ones tech, Catra agreed to help. They’d been looking for First Ones tech before but not with the same understanding of what it could _do_. Entrapta’s demonstrations spoke for themselves.

She found herself in the forest, tracking signatures of whatever First Ones tech gave off. She didn’t know. She wasn’t an expert in technology, especially not the technology of long dead losers. If their technology was so great, why did they die out anyways?

Catra didn’t intend to join their ranks. That was why they needed more than just tech. They needed the will to survive. They needed to be better in every way than the Princesses.

Speaking of Princesses, was that Adora?

Catra followed her. The occasional glance at the tracking pad made it clear she was getting closer. So Adora had the same mission then.

She tossed the tracking pad aside. She’d find what she was looking for.

“Catra?” Adora’s voice seemed to echo, stretching out to reach each iteration. A tree with many branches, all vying for the same water. “What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here.”

She decided to be honest. “Looking for...”

“Looking for me?” She asked.

“Something, not someone,” Catra said, but now that she said it she wasn’t so sure.

“We haven’t talked, in a while,” Adora said.

“So? What’s there to say?” Catra snapped.

“A _lot_ ,” She said, “if you’d get your head out of your butt for ten seconds.”

Catra sat herself down criss-cross on the floor. “Okay, you have ten seconds.”

“Catra,” Adora said. “I really needed you. We lost someone and I…”

“Okay,” Catra said, since that was technically true. Entrapta did defect.

“I just wanted to tell you I miss you,” She said. “I wasn’t sure if we were still… if you still wanted to be…”

“Together?” Catra finished. She could have but didn’t want to point out that she’d gone over time.

Adora nodded.

“We’re enemies,” Catra pointed out. “You’re still okay with betraying your friends everytime you wanna get busy?”

“Are you?” Adora asked.

“I don’t have friends,” Catra announced. “I just have people I work with.”

“Sure, that’s what that huge woman with the huge claws is, just a coworker,” Adora said, voice even.

The silence that followed felt heavy with some kind of meaning. It only just barely occurred to Catra what it might be. That was when she looked into her eyes, looking for something that she can use. Something to use against Adora. Because this wasn’t an equal partnership, this was two people trying to get one over the other.

“Wait, you’re- you’re jealous!” Catra’s eyes widened.

“I’m not jealous,” Adora insisted, “You can have _friends_.”

That was when the alarm blared and the building tried to freaking _attack_ her.

“And I’m a better Force Captain than you’d ever be.”

“You always said you didn’t care about things like that.”

“I was lying! Obviously!”

“Catra, I-“

Child Catra then shifted back to adult Catra, eyes narrowed and frown deep. “What are we even doing?”

“Catra, please don’t leave-“

“Oh, I thought you _wanted_ me to leave.” Catra cocked her head to the side. ““You aren’t supposed to be here.” Remember?”

“Let’s just talk-” Adora reached out for her.

But Catra moved out of reach. “No, I think we’re done _talking_.”

It didn’t occur to Catra that this was a breakup when she was leaving. But, when she got back to the Fright Zone, she cried into her pillow, as if Adora just left yesterday.

It wasn't fate, but it felt just as inevitable.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for all my word vomit. Just trying something here.


End file.
